Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrea Elise Velez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Andrea Elise, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
This year, I accepted the fact that I needed to rebrand my business. It’s been something that has been on my mind for a couple years now and rebranding is not only a lot of work requiring lots of time and energy but also it is expensive. However, I felt I needed to take this risk because it’s something that I could not stop thinking about and I’ve learned to follow that as a sign that it was something that I needed todo. Two years ago, I opened my Salon, Bloom Beauty and Lash Bar and six years ago I started my wedding business Bloom Glam Squad. When I started the Glam Squad, I was in a completely different place in my artistry and my idea of what I wanted to be known for in the wedding and beauty industry. As I come to the end of 2024 I am excited to introduce my new business name, combining Bloom Beauty and Lash Bar and Bloom Glam Squad into one name. Makeup + Style San Diego is the new name of my salon and wedding business. This year we also celebrated being rated #1 in San Diego for makeup artist salons, and with that I realize that the name of my salon needed to reflect what we are being celebrated as in San Diego. I am beyond excited to be completed with this rebranding because now I know that this name will be my forever business name, and it encompasses everything that I want be known for in the beauty industry. In addition with Makeup and Style San Diego, we are going to be launching our Makeup + Style Academy, which will be a certification school teaching, up-and-coming make up artist and hairstylist to learn everything they need to know to become professionals in the industry of styling hair & makeup for weddings and special occasion events. I have developed a curriculum based from the six years I worked at MAC Cosmetics and the two years I went to school at Paul Mitchell and the hundreds of weddings that I have been hired for over the last 10 years to teach aspiring artists to become professionals. This has been a dream of mine for a long time and 2025 is finally the year that it’s going to become a reality.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a San Diego native who grew up in Ramona CA.
I have been in the beauty industry for 10 years starting at MAC cosmetics.
Originally I found the beauty industry by volunteering todo makeup for women in Hospice. At the time I was a psychology major pursuing my Bachelors Degree thinking that I wanted to be a therapist.
Volunteering, I realized how special it is to make people to feel beautiful. I saw the women in Hospice were happier when they had their makeup done and they wanted it done! I also learned that having a safe environment to learn in was the key connection to my unknown makeup abilities. It wasn’t long after applied at MAC cosmetics and I got the job.
I worked at MAC for 4 years when I first started beauty school in 2016. I started beauty school because I realized that I wanted to focus on Weddings and I didn’t know how to do hair at that time along with doing lash extensions. The first month into beauty school, I took a class on lash extensions and was trained to do classic extensions. After that, I turned my garage into a last studio and I did lashes out of my garage until I got my license.
2017 I did my first makeup showcase at The House of Blues in downtown San Diego where I did fantasy makeup for 4 models.
In 2018, I earned my Cosmetology License from Paul Mitchell the School San Diego.
In school I specialized in Bridal styling and special occasion hair styles. It was also at Paul Mitchell that I received further
lash training in, Hybrid and Volume Lash Extensions.
2018 right after getting my cosmetology license I got hired at a lash studio in San Diego and I did lash extensions there for four years.
2019 I started Bloom Glam Squad. Bloom Glam Squad is a traveling wedding hair and makeup team which specializes in Bridal Makaeup & Hair along with LOOK GOOD FEEL GOOD (LGFG) volunteer/ mentor program. LGFG is a group of aspiring makeup artist’ and hair stylist’ that give back to the community by doing makeup and hair for under seen communities. We have volunteered at the Foster Youth Teen Center for 3 years for the their prom.
From 2019-2024 Bloom Glam Squad as been hired for nearly 200 weddings.
January 2, 2023, I opened my salon Bloom Beauty & Lash Bar in Bay Park, San Diego. We are a salon that specializes in Lash Extensions, Makeup and Hair styling, and Hair Extensions.
2024 we were rated #1 in San Diego on google for Makeup Salons.
2025 is the year that I am rebranding combining Bloom Glam Squad + Bloom Beauty And Lash Bar into the one name = Makeup + Style San Diego.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The rebranding of my salon was a tough decision for me. I opened my salon thinking that lashes were going to be the most popular service and now at year 2, I realized I want to be known for makeup and styling and that makeup ended up being more popular than I thought. When I started doing lashes, I wanted to learn because I don’t always want to wear makeup and lashes are my makeup plus I knew that weddings weren’t everyday so I felt that lashes and makeup would go hand in hand. As much as I enjoy doing lashes and I will continue doing lashes with the new business name, I want the name of my salon to reflect my greatest passion and what we have been celebrated as in San Diego as the #1 rated makeup salon in San Diego.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I am a huge fan of Dr. Joe Dispenza. He is someone I listen to daily. He has been fundamental in reminding me that my happiness is solely my responsibility and that every difficulty is trying to teach me something and is ultimately leading me to grow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Bloombeautyandlashbar.com
- Instagram: makeupandstylesd
